A luggage compartment in a car of for example one of the types station wagon, sports utility vehicle or hatchback is typically open to the passenger compartment and comes with an unrestricted view from the outside of any items stored in the luggage compartment. This is partly an aesthetic problem and partly a security problem. Furthermore, storage items may move around unhindered as the vehicle accelerates, maneuvers and decelerates.
Conventional load cover arrangements, such as the ones described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,618,077 and DE 10 2008 014 876, comprise a cassette or elongated housing arranged laterally in the front of the luggage compartment relative to the normal driving direction of the vehicle. The housing is usually arranged at the upper portion of the rear seats, and in the housing a winding shaft rotatably supports a web or flexible fabric which is slidably pulled rearwards to cover the luggage compartment as the winding shaft unwinds. The elongated housings may be relatively obstructive as they occupy some of the space in the luggage compartment and particularly if the seats are foldable to create more space, wherein the housing is often releasably arranged to the lateral side panels and needs to be removed and stored elsewhere not to obstruct bulky luggage or other large items. These solutions are relatively expensive, complicated and heavy components that contain moving parts which may cause rattling noises and may be more prone to fail. Further alternative solutions include such as the simple one described in DE 1 630 866 where a load cover is fastened to the rear seats on one end and fastened to the tail gate on the other end and which comprises an elastic stretchable fabric to account for the tailgate opening and for different sized luggage placed in the luggage compartment. It is desirable to have a load cover arrangement which is less obstructive and preferably lighter and also more cost effective than conventional load cover arrangement.